In 2013: BC Liberal Todd Stone won easily, defeating the NDP challenger 57 per cent to 35 per cent.
In 2009: Longtime Liberal Kevin Krueger hopped over from Kamloops-North Thompson to run in South Thompson, and defeated NDP candidate Tom Friedman by over 4,000 votes, 54-35 per cent.
History & Geography: Kamloops-South Thompson and its descendant, the old Kamloops riding, have voted for the winning party in every election since its inception in 1903. It has been home to a number of famous Social Credit and Liberal politicians, including Phil Gaglardi to Bud Smith to Kevin Krueger. The riding has comprised the southern half of Kamloops, and spans from Savona in the west to Chase and Shuswap Lake in the east.
Candidates
Liberals – Todd Stone: A high-profile Cabinet minister, he has served as the Minister of Transportation. Previous to entering politics, Stone founded iCompass Technologies.
NDP – Nancy Bepple: A Former Kamloops city councillor, she was acclaimed as NDP candidate when no one else put their hat in the ring. She worked for 15 years as a co-op coordinator at Thompson Rivers University.
Greens – Donovan Cavers: A two-term Kamloops city councillor, Cavers is the owner/operator of Conscientious Catering.
Communist Party of BC – Beat Klossner : There is still a Marxist-Leninist party in B.C. They are running six candidates in 2017.
Libertarian – Jessica Bradshaw: The Libertarian party is running 30 candidates, four times as many as in 2013. They have been running candidates in B.C. since 1986, but have never come close to winning a seat.
2017 Stats: Kamloops-South Thompson
Population (2014): 56,410 (48th)
Population Deviation from Average: 6.2 per cent
Area: 2,436 sq km (27th)
Pop Density: 23.2 (61st)
Average Age: 42.2 years (35th)
English as Second Language: 10.60 per cent (69th)
Top 3 Second Languages:
German – 1.51 per cent
Italian – 0.87 per cent
Panjabi (Punjabi) – 0.69 per cent
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